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Johnson was scheduled to report by Jan. 8 to begin serving a sentence for plotting to misuse federal money intended to help a nonprofit organization after Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Lance Africk agreed Friday to extend that deadline to Jan. 22.

Johnson asked for the extension because he says his daughter is severely ill with the flu.

Johnson pleaded guilty in July to diverting funds from a nonprofit he controlled to his 2007 campaign for state Senate and to submitting false documents to the Small Business Administration after getting a loan to repair storm damage to his home.